Monday, August 20, 2012

From Episcopal Relief and Development

For Immediate Release

DATE : 8/20/2012

Partners in
Southeast Asia Respond to Monsoon Flooding

Heavy
monsoon rains and severe flooding are widespread through a large part of
southern and southeastern Asia, impacting millions of people. Currently,
Episcopal Relief & Development is working through local partners in the
Philippines and a remote region in eastern India to provide emergency relief.

In
the Philippines, millions of people are struggling to recover from weeks of
unusually intense monsoon rains that have claimed more than 170 lives.
According to one
report, the government's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Council has provided relief aid to nearly a million people impacted by the
floods, including more than 216,000 at evacuation centers.

In
response to the need for emergency assistance, Episcopal Relief &
Development’s partner – the Episcopal Church in the Philippines
(ECP) – is using local resources to support a food distribution program
and supplying candles to households that are without electricity. In addition,
Episcopal Relief & Development will be providing support to the Iglesia
Filipina Independiente for their relief efforts.

Based
in Manila, the ECP offices are situated on higher ground than much of the
surrounding area, so its operations were not heavily impacted by the rains and
local staff were able to mobilize a response. Usually the Church would
purchase and distribute bread to families impacted by floods, either at central
locations or directly to families living in the upper floors of their homes,
but a two-week bread shortage made that unfeasible. Instead, ECP staff used
surplus camote (sweet potatoes) that had been purchased earlier for resale from
regional farmer’s cooperatives, but which could not be sold due to
weather-related travel challenges. A food distribution program for evacuees
was established at the Cathedral in Manila, and cooked camote was brought to
people who were living in their homes but unable to do any cooking.

“People
enjoyed it, [and are] asking for more,” said Floyd Lalwet, Director of
the ECP’s Community Based Development Program. “The Cathedral also
distributed our excess tomatoes, which can be eaten raw. What we gave was
entirely different from the usual relief food which are noodles, bread and
sardines.”

The
ECP also distributed candles that are made by community members participating in
an economic empowerment group in Caloocan. The candles are providing light to
households that are waiting for electricity service to be restored, and they
also gave Church staff an opportunity to spread the word about their programs.

“People
are positively surprised with this kind of assistance, they are also curious
where [the items] came from, and so it is an opportunity for us to explain to
them our program and to say that our communities which produce the goods are in
solidarity with them,” Lalwet explained. “We discovered that we
are putting up bridges as some women have also expressed interest in doing
soap-making, etc., and that when the situation stabilizes we can continue
engagement with them.”

“My
first trip to the Philippines in July to visit the Church’s programs left
me incredibly impressed with their ability to use local resources to strengthen
and care for their communities,” said Sara Delaney, Program Officer for
Episcopal Relief & Development. “When I saw news of the flooding I
knew they would be busy responding, and the story of their efforts is truly
inspiring. I know they appreciate the thoughts and prayers of Episcopal Relief
& Development’s friends and supporters.”

Also
responding to the flood situation around the greater Manila area is the Task
Force on Emergency Relief of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), in
cooperation with Operation Sambayanihan, the IFI’s emergency relief arm.
A number of IFI churches opened their doors to serve as evacuation centers, and
plan to offer food, medical services, clothes, personal care kits, diapers and
other items to those who were forced out of their homes by rising waters. The
Church is planning its activities to complement government resources and
initiatives, especially reaching out to families who chose to remain in their
homes in spite of the flood, and who may be left out of facility-based relief
efforts.

“One
thing the Church is good at is filling in the gaps, knowing where official
service provision is not as strong and reaching out to people who might have
fallen through the cracks. The IFI is very well organized, and we are pleased
to be able to support their efforts at this time,” Delaney said.

Communities
throughout southern and southeastern Asia continue to be affected by heavy
rains. Episcopal Relief & Development is also supporting relief activities
in response to mid-July flooding in the Eastern Himalaya region of India
through its partnership with the Diocese of Durgapur, part of the Church of
North India. According to local staff, most of the people affected by the
flooding are daily laborers on tea plantations (the Darjeeling district is in
this region), and many have lost their homes as well as crops and livestock.

Some
families are being sheltered in local schools, and area children are being
transported to school for exams by domesticated elephant. Focusing on
underserved rural areas, the Diocese
of Durgapur is distributing food and household items and digging wells to
provide clean drinking water to 100 families in two villages where flood damage
was very severe. The Church is also providing support for the construction of
10 houses to supply temporary shelter for evacuees.

“The
region impacted by flooding is extremely remote,” said Saranga Jain,
Program Officer for Episcopal Relief & Development. “The Diocese of
Durgapur and its local contacts are uniquely equipped to provide assistance in
these areas, where connections to larger infrastructure are limited and the Church
is one of the only sources of support. We want to do what we can to help
those who have lost so much in these floods.”

Episcopal Relief & Development is the international relief
and development agency of the Episcopal Church and an independent 501(c)(3)
organization. The agency takes its mandate from Jesus’ words found in
Matthew 25. Its programs work towards achieving the Millennium Development
Goals. Episcopal Relief & Development works closely with the worldwide
Church and ecumenical partners to help rebuild after disasters and to empower
local communities to find lasting solutions that fight poverty, hunger and
disease, including HIV/AIDS and malaria.

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